


A Baker's Dozen

by LostInQueue



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Baking, Ben's a good cook, Canon Divergent, Cookies, F/M, Force Bond, Gen, Silly, Soft Ben, food and comfort, jogan cookies, making a friend, making jam from scratch, sweet and fluffy, sweet sand cookies, wookiee cookies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-01-31 08:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21443392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostInQueue/pseuds/LostInQueue
Summary: Rey keeps the bond between Ben and herself open at all times being that she has nothing much to hide, but Ben still feels the need to reach her.One day, while sorting through his datapad, Ben finds a cookie recipe, which in turn has him trying to start up a conversation of comfort and cooking for a... friend.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 16
Kudos: 58
Collections: The Pink Ladies Love Exchange





	A Baker's Dozen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VeriLee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeriLee/gifts).

> I'm sure its obvious to who it is <3 Lee, but these made me crack up. I hope this finds you well and makes you smile. :)
> 
> There will most likely be more chapters to this but my mind is currently drawing a blank.

Ben sits in his room glaring at the wall, deep in thought, hoping their bond would just close already. She was toying with him, he knew it, and yet he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe she wanted him jealous or to see his mom... he rolls his eyes at that... or his old friends. Or that kriffing traitor that started this mess.

Ben watches it all.

“They all tell me they know me. No one does” she said climbing into her bunk.

“But I do,” he can’t help himself say, startling her from where she sits.

“Ah, you too... you too...” she sighed rolling to her side to face away from him. “It’s lonely here too, but you know, don’t you? Since everyone has the answers and all, no one is actually listening,” she scoffs.

Ben knew what she wanted, her parents. He wanted his parents... he knew this from a lifetime alone. He wanted to just be listened to, like Rey did, but never really got there either. It want wrong to say he knew her, was it? He was the closest thing to her out of all of them, wasn’t he?

Ben took the datapad into his hand looking for anything to distance himself from the impending hurt that usually came from looking into his past. He didn’t need another reason to go back, and so he found himself looking through plans and coming across a recipe that had no business in the folder it was in.

**Sweet-Sand Cookies**

He held the corner to change its location into the recipe book then wondered about his force-mate. He wondered if she ever had anything besides those crappy portions. 

Ben offers the idea of the sweet round sugar coated puck called a cookie to which he doesn’t know what to do with her response.

“Really? Sweet sand? Sand is _ not _ sweet,” she shook her head.

“No it’s a texture for the baked item.”

“_ That is a terrible thing to add to it _. Would you like to taste the sand in my boot? I’m sure there’s enough.”

“Rey that’s not what it means.” Ben can’t help but sigh at her expression. “Look if we just make them, you can try it and…”

“Ben, I’m _ not _ eating sand.”

“Its not…”

“Can you not hear me?” Rey’s eyebrows shot up in exasperation. 

Silence stirred through their bond, Ben’s datapad still in hand, he thumbed the delete button at the bottom of the screen, muttering to _ never bring up sand _again.

He felt her itch next. Her thoughts unconsciously wanting to thank him for _ trying _ to make her feel better despite not really wanting to admit it made him press on. There would be something she would accept, he knew it. 

It took him no time to find them...

**Wookiee Cookies**

These were a specialty of his thanks to Uncle Chewie. Ben gulped at the memories flashing before his eyes, landing on a particularly warm one when they got into the chocolate mom kept to make Chewie’s cookies. Dad, Han, Ben sighed to himself, regretting his actions that much more… he would keep watch while he and his uncle would make the Wookiee Cookies so long as they saved him some of the raw dough and got first dibs for the first baked morsel. It seemed like a heavy price, but… Han held the title being his father and taxation _ was _ a real thing. In fact, Ben, until he was six, truly believed that there was such a thing as a “dad tax” and that was it. 

Rey’s shoulders shuddered as she laid there, a soft sigh from her lips had been shielded from view. Ben wasn't sure if she was laughing or ready to cry, and the only thing to drain from his own was, “Do you like chocolate?”

He felt it, the ridge of her teeth pressing into her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. Ben could feel her trapping his own as if she had forgotten he could feel the girl’s movements.

“Orry,” he groaned. “Orry, lease… lel oh,” Ben tried to request her release. 

The moment her teeth released her lip, the pressure had left his. Ben’s eyes grew wide as he studied her. 

“I’m sorry, I-“

“It’s fine,” Rey waved him off. “I’m just, I think I’m gonna turn in for the night,” she kept her eyes low, as if to excuse him from their bond, but it did not waver. 

Ben couldn’t help but flick his eyes up to see her, then back down to the datapad deciding what he should do now. Making food was the one thing that he knew how to do to comfort another. It always seemed to work when mom was home and Han was gone… instead of dwelling on it he pushed forward making sure to scroll through every last baked item he could find for his friend. 

The thought of being her friend made him blush in an awkward way. They… well, they weren’t really were they? She did still hate him for what he did, taking a—well his own family member from her. That _ was _shitty. Not a day goes by where he doesn’t regret it, but here she is still open to him. Her side of their shared forcebond trembled in his mistakes but still she kept it open. It was as if she truly had nothing to hide, while he felt as if he needed to hide his desire to be seen. 

Was that why it never closed? Was it why she’d interacted with him as if he was always there? He was wasn't he? Always there?

Now, after following her around all day, seeing what she sees, how she sees it, didn't it mean that they could be more than acquaintances? 

Surely it was.

He’d briefly watched her sleep over that elongated period of time, admiring her ability to take nearly any form. He’d found himself stretching his fury through their bond the moment someone would think to disturb her, giving them a reason to run. It was tiresome but after their fingers met, Ben felt a need wash over him, one to protect, one to serve, but more than anything, one to care for, and so he reacted in her defense. 

But now, his thumb brushed over the datapad light in his grip once more to search for the treat she deserved. 

Since Rey had never had anything close to a desert, it had to be special. It couldn't be a brick saved with a sugary topping. It had to be soft, maybe filled with something…a fruit. He was sure she hadn’t experienced fruit yet. Ben’s mouth watered when he finally had come across the right recipe. 

**Jogan Cake Cookies**

  


They would be perfect. Just right for his… friend. He blushed again at the recognition of what the word implied. Maybe she’d be so excited she’d hug him.

Boy, that made Ben sit tall. Being that close to Rey made him uncomfortable but in a good way. Maybe she would let him hug her back. What a feeling that would be, to be able to wrap his arms around her and maybe give her a squeeze? Do people still do that when they hug, he wonders. They had to have, he could feel it just slightly when his mother would hug Rey, or that traitor Finn. Ben breathed out his fury with that whole fiasco. He could have just gone back to his janitorial work, no questions asked, but instead he… well, he… Rey shifted and turned on to her back making him nervous all over again. 

All she had to do was wake up to him grumbling about Finn, _ again… _and it would be over. No delicious morsels, none of her imagined closeness, none of it. Rey would shut him out - even if the bond wouldn't. 

It’s fine. It’s fine, he repeated to himself, and again his gaze dropped to the datapad, making a note to send a droid off to be sure there were plenty of ingredients to make them.

. . .

Rey did her best to curb her interest in what Ben was up to. The man was a constant thought, always in motion, always trying and more often than not, she could feel her presence in his mind. It was unnerving at times, but when she was awake she never felt quite a connection in others. Not even Finn thought of her on the regular which was odd given the way they met and the desperation inside of him to keep her safe and nearby. 

There was another. 

Rose.

And that was fine. It was in the way they looked at each other that gave her the most peace. He deserved someone that saw him for more than an ex-trooper. Finn was a hero. Not one that openly accepted it either, rather, one that was learning to accept a greater role. It did sting though. Finn finding such a connection, even if she wasn’t exactly interested in him in more than a platonic way, was a surprise. It made her feel like the small girl she once was watching her parents leave all over again. 

It wasn’t true, though. Finn was still there. Rose was too. They were constantly together with warm thoughts of inclusion while they worked for the resistance’s cause. 

Rey, however, felt like a floater in this world. People were around but not emotionally attached to her as she hoped she might find. It was disheartening at times, and because of it, she kept her line open to the only one that truly saw her. 

Even now she knew Ben was up to something for her. Nothing of malintent. That much she knew, 

She could feel him buzzing around, a new space she hadn’t seen before. It was sterile. White, far too bright for the man of darkness, and yet he lingered there. 

Rey watched him remove his gloves and take off his cape, his large frame still in the forefront of the space. 

Ben smirked as she tried looking down to where his hands rose and fell. She could feel his excitement, but for what? Then Ben she knew was a guarded man but he certainly let his walls down for her. It was intriguing, really. Perhaps it was why she’d never truly held fear for him. There was no purpose. 

“I thought you went to sleep,” she heard him say. 

“I am asleep,” Rey nodded, her subconscious hovered over the floor. 

“Then you’re not truly resting are you?” Ben quirked an eyebrow at her.

“You should know by now I never really do,” Rey answered, folding her arms across her chest.

“I…” Ben trailed. He knew how that went, but not quite like her. Instead the only thing that came to mind to do was show her what was keeping him up. The man held his breath when she made her way around him, trying to still his natural shuffle. 

“What are they?” Rey questioned the golden forms before her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m baking.”

Rey’s brow furrowed only hearing such a term while uncovered on Jakku. The thought of the intense burning and cracking skin she’d endured as a child made her sneer at the odd shaped things. 

“No. It’s food. Remember the sand cookies we were-“

“I’m not eating sand!” 

“Rey.”

“You confuse me Ben. _ No one in your family likes sand. _And you’re tempted to eat it. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Ben shook his head and reached for another bowl in front of him, pulling a Jogen fruit from it. The way he turned to her had her swallow her tongue mid sentence. 

“Why don’t you try this?” he sighed, placing the white striped purple orb into her hand. 

Her fingers briefly traced his own pulling memories back from him. The fruit meant the world to him. It bonded their family together, made him feel ...whole. He gave her a piece of him… 

“Ben?” Rey asked softly.

“Yeah?” 

“Why are you really doing this?”

“I… well, I thought maybe you could use a… well, someone to be there,” Ben trailed. 

“Like a friend?” she asked carefully.

She could feel the way he bit his lower lip carefully trying his best to find the word without making a fool out of himself. Their bond would have a name, more than the force itself. Maybe this was it. Maybe they could be friends. It was all she could do to keep a curious face, her eyes wide, her lips tight, not to rush her assumption. 

“Uh, well, if you don’t want to… I understand.”

“Nuh,” she shook her head softly. “I never said... I just sort of figured we were, I mean…”

_ You’re practically my bunkmate at this rate. _

Ben’s eyes widened, then hers followed. 

“I mean, yes, we can be friends,” her lips tightened into a firm line after that. 

“Friends?” he whispered in return.

“S-so are those edible?” Rey nodded at what he’d been making. 

“Well, I mean, they are but they go back in for another eight to ten minutes to let the jam set.”

“Jam?”

“Oh, right…” Ben looked down at the spoon in his hand then back up at Rey. 

An itch ran under his skin to rectify her past, one she could truly feel. His skin ran cold then hot, all the while his eyes darkened presumably at the thought, but then he turned to her, wordlessly handing her the spoon. Even the jam retained it’s interesting design, which she wondered if it was something he did or the fruit itself did naturally.

Her eyes studied the spoon, well, the jam for far longer than they needed to, running up the handle to his hands. There was a flash of something she couldn’t quite explain about seeing his flesh exposed or why his natural bigness ignited her in such a way, but it did. 

The urge to roll her eyes at it took over, and so they went, hidden under eyelids of course. Rey felt no need to embarrass him… it wasn’t his fault his fingers were suddenly more than appendages that could hold _ things _.

Rey’s lips parted as she leaned in to taste his jam, cautiously wrapping them around the spoon. Her hand covered his and again she was transported, this time, to an observation instead of Ben’s memories. She’d already technically seen into his mind, but being there was quite different. She could see the threads of their bond being woven together, the thin, delicate hair like strands glowing as one connected with the other only to bind itself to the other. Their paths crossing just as steady and true as this moment made her feel at home, perhaps even loved, but that felt, well … warm. It wasn’t scary as she’d thought it might be, instead it was a feeling she could open up to. 

Rey experienced the taste of the jam swim over her tongue, scooping her up from the comforting space in his heart, tossing her back into her dream only to see her hand still on his and her mouth still on the spoon. 

_ How long was she like this? _

“_ Just… n-not long,” _ Ben managed to answer, though his eyes said something else. “How is it?” he forced a new question, watching her drag her lips from the spoon. 

Rey’s tongue darted out to gather the remaining flavor, her voice more ragged than she’d heard in the driest days back on Jakku, “Delicious.”

“Yeah?” she heard him ask over the buzzing excitement over this new experience.

“Yeah.”

. . . 

Ben couldn’t help the warmth overtaking his heart. She said she liked what he made! The only thing he was truly missing was her actual presence. Rey was there in a dream, always connected, but not quite. 

His hand stayed where it was, holding the spoon for her to take. 

“I have another. It’s okay,” he promised.

Rewarded with a soft smile, Ben placed a dollop of his mixture into every form, then places it back in the oven. The two sit by the orange glow in silence. It’s not awkward though, neither pressing for more, just sitting comfortably by the other’s side. 

The moment the timer sounded, he found himself getting up to shield her from the blast. It was certainly hot, but nothing she should have to deal with. Not now anyway. 

“It smells…” he hears her breath sigh. The sound is just strange enough to call his attention back to her, only to see Rey’s form from across their bond wake up to the sounds of sirens. 

_ What’s going on? _Ben called to her across their bond. 

_ I don’t... I don't know. It’s an old place. Unknown…” _Rey’s eyes widened, scared that she started to speak about their location.

_ If I wanted it, I would have come for you already… _

To that Rey frowned. 

_ You would have what? _

_ Reported you, _ Ben stiffened. _ I would have taken your location and reported you. _

Again she frowned.  
  
_ You, the Supreme Leader. You would have reported us to whom? _

She had a point. There was no one above him. Not anymore… 

_ Well, I mean I could have. But I didn't… _

_ And why was that? _Rey squinted waiting for the next sound to blare but it had stopped just as soon as it started. 

Ben fought a little longer with his thoughts, all of which she could see if she wanted. He couldn't hide them from her, not even if he wanted, and still she stayed behind the door of his thoughts, waiting for him to come clean. 

“I wanted this. What we had in your dream. Past the bond, past the force… when you called me a friend.” He shifted from one foot to another fidgeting with the cuff of his sleeve. “You’d only push me away if I came for you.”

He watched her head bob in the form of a nod, then swung her feet around and out of her bunk. 

“Can we still?”

“Can we what, Ben?”

Hearing her name so softly said sent a chill up his spine. Maybe she wouldn't turn him down if he asked. 

“Can we still be friends? Maybe someday have something stronger than this, like your real friends?” Ben couldn't help the nod past her shoulder to Rose, Finn, and Poe who happened to be hanging at the door with new orders. 

_ Yes _, she nodded over their bond. 

No sooner did she agree did he grin. His smile wide then small, cautious even, acting on instinct alone. He felt the need to offer their creation to her. Ben, though, drew his coordinates in the jam, the buzz of his thoughts telling her to look as not one but a dozen cookies flew through their bond, materializing before her. Ben helped one specifically call out to her imprinting into her mind when her eyes locked into it.

_ I’ll be there, _Rey said, carefully wrapping every single one to accompany her on her long trip through the stars back to the one that felt like home. 

  
  
  



End file.
